Katie Boulter has been making a splash both on and off the court ahead of Wimbledon.
The newly crowned British No1 has just won a maiden WTA tour tournament at Nottingham on home soil and close to her Leicester home in the build-up to the grass grand slam at SW19.
Boulter, now ranked world No88, had to rely on a wildcard for her place in the draw at Wimbledon in July being outside the top 100 at the cut-off point several weeks ago. But that was really just a freak of the calendar.
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She received no points for reaching the third round at Wimbledon last year after decisions taken by the governing bodies following the banning of Russian and Belarusian players.
That did her no favours, but since criticism of the British women in Paris for not having a player in the main draw there or in the top 100, the determination has been fierce and the progress unmistakeable.
Boulter, whose career has been dogged by injuries in previous years, got to the semi-finals at Surbiton, and then won the final at Nottingham against compatriot Jodie Burrage for a breakthrough success.
Emma Raducanu – currently injured and recovering from wrist surgery – enjoyed her huge moment winning the US Open aged only 18, the first qualifier ever to do that in a grand slam.
For Boulter, inspired by her young rival, the biggest moment to date has come later.
But she also adorns the front cover of the August issue of glamour magazine Tatler currently, where along with fellow Brits Cameron Norrie and Jack Draper there are interviews and photoshoots sporting elegant and traditional tennis-style chic.
Boulter’s partner is Australian world No16 Alex De Minaur, who attributed his run to a first Queen’s final to being inspired by her relentless work ethic and first main tour title.
And Boulter said: “I have seen the Tatler interview, that was super fun for me to do and I have never done anything like that before. We did it before the French Open.
“I really enjoyed it and thought it was a cool piece. We can always get lost in tennis and I spend my life in sweats working my arse off.
“So it is sometimes nice to totally switch off and do something totally different, and that’s what it was. I wasn’t actually British No1 when it was done, though there are more eyes on me now and I see it as a positive thing.
“You can take confidence from anything, it’s how you see it. I am a glass half-full kind of person and try to be like that in everything I do, and take the positives. I pride myself on that.
“But I would like to think that I am quite grounded, it won’t change how I play or how hard I work which is day in, day out and I don’t want to get too wrapped up spending too much time off the court doing too many commitments.
“I want to stay focused. There is a reason I deleted social media for a while, and I don’t want to lose track of what I am doing. I have stayed the same person all along, and that won’t change.
“There was no massive reason why I came off social media, I was just spending too much time on it and thought I could be more productive. It’s not totally gone, I just try and do different things.
“It started in Japan where everyone was asleep back home and I did more reading. But it seems to be working, so I’ll keep doing what is working. I still look once in a while, I’m only human! But it’s not really my thing.
“The biggest thing for me in my career so far was winning that title. It was a huge moment for me because I have put tireless work into the past few years and come back from many things, and moments that were very tough.
“My journey over the last few years has been interesting…and I have learned a lot. For three of them I have had three different stress fractures. They were huge chunks out of my time and my years for recovery.
“I finally feel like I am in a place where I am very strong body-wise and that has taken multiple years for me to get there, it hasn’t happened overnight. The last few weeks have been testament to how hard I and my team have worked to get me there.
“Of course you have doubts whether you will get back. Nothing is set in stone, you can’t take anything for granted. Last year I had things off court which really changed my perspective and everything I thought about tennis.
“And it reminded me that my main goal is to enjoy myself. I cannot forget the little girl that always liked smiling on a tennis court, and that’s what I am doing.
“That only made me stronger and helped me win that title so I cherish it with everything that I have got. And I hope I can use that in the coming months.
“I don’t have anything to defend [points] so I will be looking to push up my ranking in the coming months.
“I 100 per cent think there could be more to come. If we didn’t have Emma then I don’t think a lot of the [British] girls would be pushing through.
“I have taken a lot of inspiration from her, what she did was absolutely incredible and I don’t think it will ever be emulated again. It was quite a moment and she is a very special girl.
“I try to take a lot of inspiration and try and do what she was doing. All the British girls work so hard day in and day out, and I hope we can keep pushing each other.”
*18+ | BeGambleAware | Odds Subject To Change
